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MEXICO CITY (AP) — On rubber mats spread across a Mexico City recreation center, the Montero family cuddles under donated wool blankets, their first new possessions after abandoning their apartment following the deadly magnitude 7.1 earthquake.

Across the capital thousands of Mexicans are now believed homeless after the tremor leveled entire buildings and left others teetering on the edge of collapse. Men, women and children are now filling up gyms and event halls at more than two dozen designated shelters. Many are uncertain where they will go next, but grateful to have a safe refuge.  Continue reading “Mexicans displaced by deadly quake seek refuge from fear”

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HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) — Nine elderly patients died after being kept inside a nursing home that turned into a sweatbox when Hurricane Irma knocked out its air conditioning for three days, even though just across the street was a fully functioning and cooled hospital.

From the perspective of Florida Gov. Rick Scott and relatives of those at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, criminal charges are warranted. But under Florida law, a prosecution might be difficult. Two of three ex-state prosecutors contacted by The Associated Press had doubts as to whether Dr. Jack Michel, the home’s owner, or any of his employees will be charged.   Continue reading “Ex-prosecutors unsure if nursing home deaths involved crimes”

RT

A federal court denied convicted Charleston shooter Dylann Roof’s request to replace his two defense lawyers, who are Jewish and Indian. Roof called the lawyers appealing against his death sentence his “political and biological enemies.”

Roof, 23, killed nine and wounded three black parishioners at Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in June 2015. He told police he wanted to start a “race war.” He was found guilty in December 2016 and subsequently sentenced to death in a federal hate crimes trial.   Continue reading “Court denies Charleston shooter’s request to fire his Jewish & Indian lawyers”

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UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Nations on Wednesday began signing the first treaty to ban nuclear weapons, a pact backed by over 100 countries but spurned by those with nuclear arms. The U.N. treaty office said 51 countries are expected to attach their names on the opening day for signatures. Brazilian President Michel Temer was first to sign.

The treaty requires all countries that eventually ratify it not to develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons “under any circumstances. Wednesday, the opening day for signatures. Brazilian President Michel Temer was first to sign.   Continue reading “Nations start signing nuke ban treaty opposed by big powers”

Mail.com

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A 23-year-old white man was arrested and accused of killing two black men and shooting up a black family’s home in a string of attacks last week that police say may have been racially motivated.

A law enforcement official said Tuesday that authorities found a handwritten copy of an Adolf Hitler speech at Kenneth James Gleason’s home and investigators said surveillance footage and DNA on a shell casing link him to the crimes.   Continue reading “White man faces charges in shooting deaths of 2 black men”

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — One of the strongest hurricanes ever to hit Puerto Rico pummeled the island Wednesday, tearing off roofs and doors, toppling cell towers and unleashing heavy flooding in an onslaught that could deepen the U.S. territory’s financial crisis.

Maria, which left at least nine people dead in its wake across the Caribbean, blew ashore in the morning in the southeast coastal town of Yabucoa as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 155 mph (250 kph).   Continue reading “Hurricane Maria hits Puerto Rico, heavy flooding reported”

RT

Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed the government to approve legislation making the ruble the main currency of exchange at all Russian seaports by next year, according to the Kremlin website.

To protect the interests of stevedoring companies with foreign currency obligations, the government was instructed to set a transition period before switching to ruble settlements.  Continue reading “Putin orders to end trade in US dollars at Russian seaports”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans expressed growing hope Monday for a final push to scuttle President Barack Obama’s health care law, an effort that still faces an uphill climb and just a two-week window to pass. Adding more risk, senators would be in the dark about the bill’s impact on Americans, since the Congressional Budget Office says crucial estimates won’t be ready in time for a vote.

Democrats backed by doctors, hospitals, and patients’ groups mustered an all-out effort to finally smother the GOP drive, warning of millions losing coverage and others facing skimpier policies. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer went further, saying the partisan measure threatened the spirit of cooperation between President Donald Trump and Democratic leaders embodied in a recent budget deal and progress on immigration.  Continue reading “Senate GOP musters final push to erase Obama health care law”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — Most of the states that first endorsed the Common Core academic standards are still using them in some form, despite continued debate over whether they are improving student performance in reading and math.

Of the states that opted in after the standards were introduced in 2010 — 45 plus the District of Columbia — only eight have moved to repeal the standards, largely due to political pressure from those who saw Common Core as infringing on local control, according to Abt, a research and consulting firm. In Oklahoma, Gov. Mary Fallin signed a bill to repeal the standards in 2014 less than six months after defending them in a speech. She said Common Core had become too divisive.   Continue reading “Common Core used widely, despite continuing debate”

Mail.com

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the U.S. House, said she understands the fears of young immigrants after they shouted her down Monday at an event where she planned to drum up support for legislation that would grant legal status to immigrants like them.

“We’re in this fight to win for the dreamers, when it’s easier and when it’s harder,” she told reporters later after a similar — but quieter — event in Sacramento. “Dreamers” is a nickname used for young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children or by parents who overstayed visas.   Continue reading “Young immigrants shout down Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi”

RT

Not all Italian farmers welcome a European court ruling this week allowing growers to cultivate genetically-modified corn in Italy. Some farmers told RT that the majority reject GM seeds and question the EU interfering in national laws.

The European Court of Justice on Wednesday ruled in favor of Giorgio Fidenato, an Italian activist farmer who faces fines for growing genetically-modified maize MON 810 on his land in 2014, despite a 2013 government decree banning its cultivation.   Continue reading “‘GM seed choice shouldn’t be dictated’: Italian farmers question EU court ruling on Monsanto corn”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is on track to pass a defense policy bill that pumps $700 billion into the Pentagon budget, expands U.S. missile defenses in response to North Korea’s growing hostility and refuses to allow excess military bases to be closed.

The legislation is expected to be approved on Monday by a wide margin in another burst of bipartisanship amid President Donald Trump’s push for cooperation with congressional Democrats. The 1,215-page measure defies a number of White House objections, but Trump hasn’t threatened to veto the measure. The bill helps him honor a pledge to boost military spending by tens of billions of dollars.   Continue reading “Senate on track to pass $700 billion defense policy bill”

Mail.com

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A 23-year-old white man whom police call a “person of interest” in the fatal shootings of two black men in Baton Rouge has been released from jail after his arrest on drug charges over the weekend.

Baton Rouge Police Sgt. Don Coppola, a department spokesman, said Monday that Kenneth Gleason “has not been cleared” and remains a “person of interest” in the shootings. A homicide detective’s report described Gleason as a “suspect” in the case.  Continue reading “Man questioned about deadly shootings is freed from jail”

Mail.com

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A racially mixed crowd of demonstrators locked arms and marched quietly through downtown St. Louis Monday morning to protest the acquittal of a white former police officer in the killing of a black suspect, following another night of unrest and more than 80 arrests.

The latest action follows three days of peaceful protests and three nights of vandalism and unrest in the city that has been rocked since Friday, when a judge announced he found Jason Stockley not guilty in the 2011 death of Anthony Lamar Smith.  Continue reading “Protests resume after 80 arrests in St. Louis unrest”

RT

Convicted fraudster and former pharmaceuticals company CEO Martin Shkreli, once dubbed the “most hated man in America,” is headed to jail after having his bail revoked over a Facebook post in which he offered $5,000 for a strand of Hillary Clinton’s hair.

US District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto ruled on Wednesday that Shkreli’s post on September 4 showed he posed a danger to the public.

In that post, the 34-year-old offered a generous bounty to anyone who could steal a hair from former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton while she was on her book tour.   Continue reading “‘Pharma Bro’ Shkreli sent to jail after offering $5k for Clinton’s hair in cloning joke”

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HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) — Emergency crews around hurricane-scarred Florida worked Thursday to make sure elderly residents were safe, after eight people died in a sweltering nursing home that lost its air conditioning in the storm and multiple other facilities were evacuated.

In one of the latest actions to protect older residents, firefighters helped relocate 122 people late Wednesday from two assisted living centers near Orlando that had been without power since Hurricane Irma hit. Elsewhere, facilities lacking electricity statewide tried to keep residents cool with dampened cloths and urged utilities to work quickly.  Continue reading “Florida nursing home deaths spur efforts to protect elderly”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — The blaring, grinding noise jolted the American diplomat from his bed in a Havana hotel. He moved just a few feet, and there was silence. He climbed back into bed. Inexplicably, the agonizing sound hit him again. It was as if he’d walked through some invisible wall cutting straight through his room.

Soon came the hearing loss, and the speech problems, symptoms both similar and altogether different from others among at least 21 U.S. victims in an astonishing international mystery still unfolding in Cuba. The top U.S. diplomat has called them “health attacks.” New details learned by The Associated Press indicate at least some of the incidents were confined to specific rooms or even parts of rooms with laser-like specificity, baffling U.S. officials who say the facts and the physics don’t add up.   Continue reading “Attacked in bed, safe a few feet away: Cuba mystery deepens”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday said he was “fairly close” to a deal with congressional leaders to preserve protections for young immigrants living illegally in America but he’s insisting on “massive border security” as part of any agreement.

Trump, speaking to reporters before surveying hurricane damage in Florida, pushed back against Democratic leaders who claimed there was a deal on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative. He also said his promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border would “come later.”   Continue reading “Trump says he’s ‘fairly close’ to deal on young immigrants”

Mail.com

BOSTON (AP) — Self-driving cars may not hit the road in earnest for many years – but autonomous boats could be just around the pier. Spurred in part by the car industry’s race to build driverless vehicles, marine innovators are building automated ferry boats for Amsterdam canals, cargo ships that can steer themselves through Norwegian fjords and remote-controlled ships to carry containers across the Atlantic and Pacific. The first such autonomous ships could be in operation within three years.

One experimental workboat spent this summer dodging tall ships and tankers in Boston Harbor, outfitted with sensors and self-navigating software and emblazoned with the words “UNMANNED VESSEL” across its aluminum hull.   Continue reading “Self-driving boats: The next tech transportation race”

Mail.com

NORTH HAVERHILL, N.H. (AP) — A Rhode Island man accused of fatally shooting his mother in the intensive care unit of New Hampshire’s largest hospital was set to be arraigned Wednesday on murder charges.

Travis Frink signed into the visitor center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon on Tuesday afternoon and went to the intensive care unit, authorities said. Soon after, Lebanon police received an emergency call reporting shots had been fired there.  Continue reading “Man accused of killing his mom in hospital to be arraigned”